


Brother

by AnonymousPumpkin



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2017-12-09 08:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousPumpkin/pseuds/AnonymousPumpkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps it was the child's face, so pitiful and dirty. Perhaps it was its piteous cries, high and annoying. Or perhaps it was nothing more than animal instincts, tugging at his dusty heartstrings. But whatever it was, Sesshomaru was stuck with it now. A tale of two brothers, whose story was changed by one word and an uncharacteristic choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Word

“Brother…”

The thing’s cries ended with that word, whispered in a blend of awe and terror. Golden eyes met golden eyes and something somewhere shifted.


	2. Impression

Solitude did not treat this child well. Dirt was rubbed across its round face, and though its clothes and skin remained defiantly unbroken, the underclothes were ripped and its white hair was unkempt, and there was a haunted terror in its eyes that Sesshomaru could never relate to. Its back was pressed against bark, but even in its youth it seemed to know the futility of trying to escape the destined-to-be-great Sesshomaru.

The youkai had thought the child would beg or plead or even defy, but he certainly hadn’t expected…well… _that_.

He turned to walk away, but stopped after only one step.

_Brother…_


	3. Excuse

It was the child’s face, he decided. That had to be it. The resemblance to their father was obvious. It reminded him of him, and that inspired some kind of weak sentimentality he couldn’t shake.

That must have been it. There was no other explanation.

But all Sesshomaru could think about as he walked away with a hanyou brat in his arms was the whispered word that had started all of this.


	4. Break

Their journey was spent in absolute silence. Sesshomaru refused to speak and he wasn’t sure the brat knew how. The only reason the child remained in his arms because he was certain it couldn’t keep up with him, not in its condition. If he could, he would keep it as far away as possible.

The silence was broken rudely by an extremely human sound.

His eyes slanted downwards harshly. It sounded not once, nor twice, but _continuously_.

The hanyou met his gaze defiantly. “Hungry.”


	5. Unceremonious

Sesshomaru snorted. “Feed yourself,” he demanded, and let his arm go slack. The hanyou was off the second its feet hit the ground and, though he was sorely tempted, Sesshomaru didn’t move from that spot until it returned.


	6. Not

It returned quickly, its hands dirty with dirt and the juices of whatever it had found to eat. Sesshomaru sniffed in disdain…the wretched thing couldn’t even _hunt_.

 _There’s no way,_ he thought. _No way that thing is related to me._

And despite those thoughts he waited, this time allowing the child to trail in his wake as he went back on his never-ending quest for power.


	7. Quiet

It was very quiet. Sesshomaru hadn’t known what to expect…perhaps for it to talk his ear off or wail every time it got dark or perhaps just make little huffs or pants like he was fairly certain most children did. But no. The hanyou was silent…well, its _mouth_ was. Sesshomaru could hear its crashing footsteps even when it lagged meters behind. It made hunting nigh impossible unless he wanted to just leave the runt behind.

The silence with which their journey started continued for two days, and was broken once again by the insistent rumbling of a young stomach.


	8. Rest

Sesshomaru leaned against the tree, his eyes closed as he let the sun warm him and melt his stresses away. Ever so often he would crack open a golden eye to see the red-clad figure curled up on a branch above his head.


	9. Adorned

The child clambered down with little grace and Sesshomaru was less than pleased with the dusting of leafs and flower petals that settled on his shoulders. One petal landed on the child’s nose after drifting from the lord’s shoulders, and it sneezed.


	10. Wander

When Sesshomaru opened his eyes, he realized that he was alone. The clearing was empty and the child's trail wandered in aimless circles around, several times approaching him and skirting away, tinged with fear and other less important emotions.

He warred with himself only briefly before following its most recent trail into the forest. He wondered briefly if it would make finding it difficult…but that question was almost immediately answered when a boisterous and off-tune voice began to sing an equally obnoxious song.


	11. Song

A juvenile lilt rose and fell in wordless notes. Tracking the brat was none too difficult. He found it by a creek, kicking at fish while it sang.


	12. Defend

The only aid the whelp offered was an occasional growl that was too high-pitched to be anything but pathetic. But Sesshomaru felt its eyes following him, or trying to, while he danced around his foe, and he didn't miss its little gasps at his displays of power. When he dropped to the grass, flicking away the few drops of blood that dared to stick to him, he smelled its fear…and its respect.

His lips twitched and without another word, he turned. It gave chase immediately, marching bravely past the still twitching body, knowing that Sesshomaru would never leave an enemy alive.


	13. Catch

“Hunt."

The order was simple, but weighted. Perhaps the child knew that. It took twice as long than normal for it to slink back to him, and he noted with satisfaction that its hands were stained with the blood of animals rather than plants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so shitty when it comes to updating things. Also I forgot I had, like, ten chapters of this written in advance.


	14. Wait

For the first time, the pup waited for him to eat first. An impracticality most times, but it had displayed for him its kill and it knew at least to wait. So it was not completely hopeless, he supposed.

Nothing that had touched its filthy claws appealed to him, but if he didn’t eat, its stomach would continue to make that obnoxious growling. So he grabbed one berry and popped it into his mouth, leaving the rest of the “feast” to its incapable hunter.


	15. Share

The pup continued to bring its spoils to him. If he didn’t bask in its obvious subservience to his superiority, he might have found its devotion annoying. He wasn’t overly fond of the fact that he had to sample something from every hunt. Sometimes it would bring him nothing but meat, and then he would refuse to eat. He didn’t want to taste its filthy fingers in his meal, and the badly mangled meat was barely appetizing as it was.

The twenty-first unrecognizable hunk of meat was the final straw.


	16. Watch

Sesshomaru watched the pup clamber around from his vantage point. Other than its apparent disregard for his presence, which was _pitiful_ , he had only one word for its display.

_Clumsy._

Lip curling with distaste, Sesshomaru dropped down, unable to watch its flail about in its incompetence any longer.


End file.
